Tag Archives: coronavirus

Journal of a Plague Year

By Robin Bates | Published: March 18, 2020

Defoe’s “Journal of the Plague Year” has many unsettling parallels with our current situation.

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Not Poe’s Red Death but Still Dangerous

By Robin Bates | Published: March 16, 2020

Poe’s “Masque of the Red Death” captures the belief that we can wall out epidemics and then dance the night away.

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To Understand COVID-19, Read Camus

By Robin Bates | Published: March 15, 2020

Camus’s “The Plague” provides insights into our own coronavirus.

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What to Do When Quarantined

By Robin Bates | Published: March 9, 2020

In “Decameron,” Boccaccio describes young lords and ladies retiring to a villa and telling stories to escape the Black Plague. It’s an idea for those who are driven into their homes by the coronavirus.

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Hand Washing and the Coronavirus

By Robin Bates | Published: March 3, 2020

The coronavirus is leading to a focus on hand washing, which brings Lady Macbeth to mind.

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King on How Pandemics Spread

By Robin Bates | Published: February 25, 2020

The coronavirus pandemic brings to mind Stephen King’s “The Stand.” There, the government starts the virus. In our own world, Trump has disassembled the agencies designed to stop pandemics.

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